The state and interest of the nation, with respect to His Royal Highness the Duke of York discours'd at large, in a letter to a member of the Honourable House of Commons.

The state and interest of the nation, with respect to His Royal Highness the Duke of York discours'd at large, in a letter to a member of the Honourable House of Commons.

Table of contents

Title page

THE State & Interest OF THE NATION, &c.

THE State & Interest OF THE NATION, &c.

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SIR,

§ 1. WELL were it for this poor distracted Nation, were there less ground, than there is, for your Opinion, that it is not the particular Case of your Friend only, but of a great many (otherwise) Worthy and Eminent Persons, to be mis-led, and intoxicated, by the plausible pretence of a Free Estate, into a passionate Fondness, and Admiration of a Popular Government: never distinguishing betwixt the Form and Essence of a Commonwealth; the mistake whereof (each for the other) has prov'd so fatal in this Age; nor calling to mind that it was the misfortune of those that surfeited of our Kingly Regiment, and gap'd as impatiently after Novelty as any now adayes can do; to lose the substance of Liberty and Happiness, in persute of the Shadow. Nay, too too [Page] many, I fear me, there are, that sacrificing all considerations of Conscience and Religion to their Mammon, Interest, do labour with all the Vigour and Artifice imaginable to create in the Multitude a loathing of their present Manna, and a fresh longing for their late AEgyptian Leeks and Garlick. So that you are not to look upon my Endeavours to set things aright, as to this Point, to be the pure effects of my Compliance with your Desires for the satisfaction of your Friend, but rather of a pressing and indispensable Duty.

NEITHER your Friend, nor any other Republican will, I presume, maintain that a Free Estate (as they call it) is subject to no Violations; because woful Experience will confute, and force them to confess either that a Commonwealth may Degenerate; or, at least, that the so much cry'd up Model of the Late Times was no Commonwealth: And they must not only renounce their Senses, but even the Faith of Story also; which sufficiently proves that Republiques have been sometimes invaded with Usurpations; sometimes debauch'd and embas'd with Oligarchy; mostly (by reason of their Weakness and Divisions) subdu'd or compell'd to truckle under their Neighbouring Princes; but alwayes tormented with Faction and Convulsions. Nor, in truth, has that Party as yet been able to produce any Arguments but such as, in effect, beg the Question; by presupposing great Unity in the Coalition, great Probity in the Intention, and great Purity in the Exercise; which being admitted, doubtless we should so little need to differ about Forms, that perhaps we should scarce need any Government at all. Now for my Own part (on the other side) I abhor Bloodshed, and deem one Party in all Wars guilty of Murther; a Crime which as it cryes High for Vengeance, so ought it to cry Lowd for Unity and Moderation; [Page] into which blessed Path may This ballance us, that we be not again Balotted into a Field of Blood: I plead for Liberty; not the Name, but the Thing; and design not to assert Tyranny, but Kingship; (as it relates to the Laws of the Land) to whose protection I am entitled by my Birth, for the preservation of my Freedom in Person and Estate; and That with more assurance, then possibly can be secur'd under the Government of Many; who scruple not commonly to term that Justice (and without Remedy too) which is down right Faction. So that with these thoughts about me I shall readily acknowledge (you may imagine) that even Monarchy it self is but as Earthen Ware, (tho' of the Finest and Strongest Sort) and liable to sundry Contingences; nothing under the Heavens being compleatly Perfect. And in the Constitution of Governments, 'tis childish to think upon erecting Babels against the Deluge; but the Design must be, to embank against Floods, and enclose the best that may be against Trespassors. This being premised, I shall proceed to handle the Matter in debate, not Metaphysically, in Notions abstracted from their Subjects (a Pastime which our Platoniques much delight in) but Morally, and Reasonably; and enforce such Arguments only as are plain, sensible, and appropriate to our own Countrey; leaving the Notional to our Book-men, whose Volumes, calculated for all Climates, swell big against the Evils of the Rule of MANY, or Democracy.

§ 2. I SHALL not here presume to insist upon such other Insuperable Difficulties, (of a quality too High for a private person to meddle with) as must necessarily obviate the establishing of a popular Platform amongst us; But lay before you in the First place the present State of the Nation, so far forth only as may carry any [Page] immediate Relation to the Subject; and then apply the Premises to the Point in hand. This Island, now, is a large Continent, abundantly populous; and govern'd (I may say) by the Subordinate Influence of the Nobility and Gentry; who live plentifully, and at ease upon their Rents, extracted from the Toyle of their Tenants and Servants; and every one of them Acts the Prince within the Bounds of his own Estate, where he is purely Absolute; his Servants and Labourers are in the Nature of his Vassals, his Tenants indeed are Free, but yet in the Nature of Subjects; whom he orders in his Courts, draws Supplyes from by his Fines, and Awes by his Power and Oaths of Fealty, to infinite Submissions. The more his Mannors are, and the more indulgently he behaves himself (like a good Prince) the larger is his Territory, and the more awful are his Commands. A Neighbour more Rich and Potent gives Cheque to his Inferiour Neighbour; and brings his Petty-Princeship into awe; He again being overaw'd by one that is greater and more powerful than himself in Estate and Friends. But none of these, with respect to his Quality and Estate, will admit a Parity with his Inferiour Neighbours, much less with his Tenant or Dependent.

INTO the Rank of Gentry do our Officers, Citizens, and Burghers aspire to be enroll'd: So that no sooner by Arms, Office, or Trade do they acquire a competent Stock, but forthwith for Land it is dispos'd; and then, disowning the Title of Souldiers, Citizens, or Burghers, they take to themselves the Degree and Name of Gentlemen, with Arms not improper; for England within it self, has been so often shuffled from High to Low, that there is scarce any Artificer but may find his Name in the Heralds-Book, tho' not his Pedegree, [Page] which Ingenuity yet and Good Will may easily supply: And thus being Equipt with a Title and Estate, they set up suitably the Dominion within their Territories; which none can dispute, because they have no right to intermeddle with what any man has or does within himself: For by Gentry I intend not only such as are so in Blood, but so in Quality also; such as live easily, and like Princes, upon the Labours of their Dependents.

OUT of This Order are constituted our Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace, and all that execute the Authority of a Judge; by the influence of which Powers, they so order all Elections to Parliament, or otherwise, that the whole Countreys Commonly follow their respective Factions, and the Commonalty in their Votes are menag'd by Them, as a Horse by his Rider. So that as the Agrarian or Interest of Land, is principally in these Two Ranks; So is the Consequence thereof, Dominion and Command; which emboldens them to such a Height of Spirit (natural to our Nobility and Gentry) that they are too apt to undervalue Persons of Inferiour Quality, [Burgesses and Mechaniques,] with whom to Inter-marry by our Old Law it was a Disparagement for a Ward; and this Spirit of Generosity cannot be supprest, so riveted is it in their Natures, but by the Eradication of their Persons, or at least their Qualities; to which strange effect I have heard some Grandees vent a Sense.

AND indeed the establishing of a Free Estate (so call'd) were otherwise Desperate and Impracticable; and therefore it was the Course that the prevailing Mechaniques, among the Swisses, were forc'd to take: How [Page] else shall we be levell'd to a Parity, which is of the very Essence of a Commonwealth? For as Titles and Honours are incident to Kingship; so also are Equality in Place, Degree, and Birth, to Democracy; unless where, in case of Office, for the Time only they are entitled to a Precedency. Reduced you must be, Sir, to the Condition of the Vulgar; Commoners already are you in Title, which yet is but a Fallacy of the Name, and deludes our Statists; for indeed you are so only Representatively, being rather the Tribunes and Leaders of the Peoples strength, and the Governours of their purse, then purely Commons. Neither yet will the bare obtaining of such a Parity be sufficient to do your Friends Business; unless there be a Supreme Power establish'd in some Body Corporate, Compacted and Permanent; such as is That of London, where the Grandure of That City (but that it is never to be debauch'd into such a Degree of Disloyalty and Fanaticism) might possibly erect it Self into a Free-State, (could it once overcome all opposite Interests) and by that great Magazine of Treasure and Men, there embody'd, give Law to the whole People scatter'd as they are in a large Continent: Having, First, reduc'd some meet Cities, Forts, and Castles, which being Garrison'd from the Head-Colony would aw the Countreys, and mould them into a Vassalage competent to make up a Free-Estate. But then our Nobility and Gentry would neither have the Honour of the Name, nor Benefit of the Thing: 'Twill be instiled the Commonwealth of London, not of England; And our Pay must be as They Impose, and our Liberty as They vouchsafe it; only in This it will be the less agreeable, that we must be Subject to our Inferiours.

NOR is This Discourse to be look't upon as meer [Page] Drollery; for from This Embrio have issued those Commonwealths which are so fam'd in Notions; as those of Rome, Carthage, Athens, Lacedaemon, Corinth, Thebes, &c. Great Cities of That Name, which having subdu'd their adjacent Territories, denominated the Dominion; wherein only those of the Freedom (Citizens and Denizens) had Vote or Power; the Nobles and Gentlemen being purely Tributary to the Chief City; unless they transplanted themselves, renounc'd their Cities, and so, by degrees advanc'd into the Honour of a Burgess, as we now do exercise our Junior Issue. And little different are at this day the celebrated Commonwealths of Venice, the United Provinces, the Swisses; not to instance in those Petty States of Genoua, Ragusa, Geneva, &c. all of them mostly denominated from those Principal Cities, which give the Law to the adjacent Provinces. Those indeed of the Hollanders and Switzers, tho' they derive not, so directly, their Title from One City, yet are they (in Substance) of the same Composure, being only an United Body of Corporated Cities, combin'd in One, for Mutual Defence against Invaders, but of an equal Power to impose upon the Adjacent Territories, scituate under the aw of each respective City, or Town-Garrison. It falls not within my Memory, that there ever was, or at This Day is, a Free-Estate in the whole World that's manag'd by the Gentry Inhabiting at large, or by any People not combin'd within the Jurisdiction of their Walls; except the Grisons; who are a scatter'd People of a mean Quality, having long since disown'd their Gentry; and are without Walled Towns or Garrison. 'Tis a small Territory, possibly of extent to an Inland Country; upon Emergences, the whole People at a set day, meet in the [Page] Open Ayre, where the Major Vote (as with you Knights of the Shire) cryes up the Magistrates, and Determines Warre. Their Confusions makes them easie for Conquest, were their Country worth it, and not secur'd by the United Cantons.

NOW to apply the Premisses; can your Friend, or any other Man of the same Stamp imagine, that our Nobility and Gentry (as now in Power) will ever be induc'd to admit a Parity; will level their Degree and Domination to a Proportion with their Copy-holders? Nay, will renounce the wearing of a Sword, and learn to make one? Will submit to become Tributary to the Neighbour-Colony? If this can be brought about; then perhaps (and not till then) may we again hope to aspire from our present Glorious State of King-ship, to a Free-state in Clown-ship; or at least, from the Free-giving of Subsidies, to the Majesty of a Scepter; to the Forced-payment of Excise to the High and Mighty Burgher; such as was that High and Mighty Butcher, who, not many years ago was commissioned by the Swisses, as one of the Chiefs to be God-Father to the French Kings Son. As Plato phansi'd his Community, and Sir Thomas Moor his Utopia; so are these people bigg with hopes of a Relation; thereby to reassume their Idoliz'd Model of a Commonwealth, out of the scatter'd Gentry, in the nature of a House of Commons. But if nothing but New Experiments will serve their Turn, I could wish they would find other Subjects to try Conclusions upon, than the Estates, Lives, nay, the very Souls of Christians. You well remember I'me sure, Sir, that we once ran the Loss of Those, and the Hazzard of [Page] These, upon the hopes of a Chimaera in the Brains of some: The word Liberty deluded us into Patience, and Patience from 1648. to 1660. brought forth not less Payments, but more Servitude. And let them not hope to bring Countenance to their Cause, by alledging (as they did before) that they could never be permitted to foster up their Babe to full perfection; for that they will ever be opposed by all Wise and Loyal men, who having once experimented the Evils of such a State, will be as vigilant and industrious to keep it from getting footing among us again, as those that are otherwise, can be to bring it on. Beside that, you cannot have forgot, Sir, that from 1648 to 1653. they had it from the Nurse, and (had they stuck to their Pretences) might probably in five years time have set it upon its Feet; but they found the sweet (poor Wretches) of ingrossing Power to themselves: But then it could never have been of any long Continuance, as manifestly appear'd from the great scorn and bitterness that the Supporters of it were reproach'd with, when it was dissolv'd; there was not so much as one Bloudy Nose in the defence of that High and Mighty State; but all the persons were held in the utmost degree of detestation, as they most justly deserved. And though these Rumpers, 'tis true, came twice into play, yet were they only made use of to serve a Turn, as being fit to be made a Property; for it was presently seen that it was not the desire of their Rule, but of a further change, that inspirited the People against the Army; and the Rump (as being next at hand) had no sooner mounted the empty Saddle, but (before they were warm in their Seat) they were again Unhors'd with a Publick Leave, as appear'd by the Bonefires (upon That Occasion) that might have lighted them to the Landsend, if they had dar'd to be seen among them. So that it is plain from what has been said, that it is not the sense or Interest of a Few, that can long sway a Nation; for [Page] if the publick Spirit be averse, at the long run it will prevail; the more Dispute there is with that spirit, the more embitter'd it will be found: For, whatever such Enthusiasts may dream, even when the Multitude have the Power, the Command yet rests in a Few: The most active Spirits lead the Herd, and ingross the Place, the Profit, and the Sway: This, in generous minds, begets Disdain, and that, Faction; for when all are equal, thousands think themselves as deserving of Rule, as those that carry it; to satisfie all it is impossible, to please few displeases the Most; the Transactions of that Party from 1648. to 1660. have made this as sensible, as they made themselves contemptible. In a word, the Nobility and Gentry of England have Spirits pure, naturally just and generous, like Fire aspiring, as a Pyramide, from low to high; and never resting till it contracts it self into an Unity at top: So God is One, or he were not God, nor could he Rule the World; and if your Friend likes not this President, but still continues to delight in the Rule of Many, let him begin a Pattern in his own Family, and he may there, possibly, have enough to do.

§. 3. NOW my hand's in, I shall venture to set one step further, and refresh your memory with a View of our Condition whilst this Free-State kept above-Water, the Past being the most certain Line to direct us in our Conjectures upon Futurities. We were never free (you may remember) from the Apprehensions of an Insurrection at Home, or an Invasion from Abroad, and liv'd in continual jelousie, even of our very next Neighbours. These Fears obliged us to maintain a considerable Force at Land and Sea, which, lying idle, corrupted, as standing-Water in a Pool, and every moment threaten'd fresh Combustions, as they were blown up this way or that way by their new Masters; but at the best (like our old Lord-Danes) they were [Page] most insupportably burthensome and odious to the Country, by their Quartering; and to keep them as much in action as possibly we could, we were fain either to be perpetually amusing them with pretended Discoveries of some new-feigned Plot or other, or else to engage them in Forreign Wars. For the support of this Army (now) we were compelled to daily Contributions, besides great and innumerable Customs that were exacted, together with the Excise, (a Brat begotten in the Low-Countries, with their State, which makes them free indeed, but then it is in Purse, not in Priviledge) a Tribute which no King of England durst demand, before they enforced us to pay it; which being ever before look'd upon as Poyson; we then took as Physick; though in that Age, it was generally believ'd that no English-man would ever swallow it; and for the bare but necessary Mention whereof, in the House of Commons, that Grand Patriote (as they call'd him) Mr. Pym was by a young Spirit (not without great Applause) call'd to the Bar; add hereunto the Benevolences, Sequestrations, five and twentyth parts, a Tax of fifty Subsidies at once, (though the late King suffer'd so much by the demand of twelve only) Fines and Compositions, sale of Kings, Bishops, Deans and Chapters, and Delinquents Lands, the two parts of Papists Estates, nay a share of our very Charities to the distressed; over and above the constant Contributions that were levy'd. How was all this devour'd by the Army, whose Belly indeed was bottomless? and yet what Arrears did we owe them just before the King's Return? three Millions at least! Reform the Army we durst not, and our constant charge could not be less than two Millions yearly, to supply it; In a word, we never used to be in a worse condition, than when none would Rebel, because when the People were quiet we had no Lands either to sequester or to sell. Our Trade fell to nothing, our Traffique was interrupted, our [Page] Gold walk'd beyond Sea more freely than in our own Country; and we lost no less than 2000 Sail of Ships in two or three years time: There was no settlement, but we were every day dancing after a new Whistle; ten Models we had in Proposal at one time, and every Faction ready with Blood to aver his own way to be the best. By our known Laws we could not be imprison'd, but by a Regular proceeding in a Course of Justice; but under our free Estate (on the other side) upon the most slight suggestions of a spiteful Neighbour in Authority, we were presently seiz'd by the Serjeant at Arms, with his exorbitant Fees! no Bail, no Habeas Corpus, no regular way of Justice to do us right! but, after a Twelvemonths stay in Goal, if we could make good Friends, and humble our selves to our potent Adversary, we might possibly be discharg'd; but without amends, or knowing of our Crime. Loe thus, while we cajol'd our selves with the Name of Freedom, we lost the thing, and became free, only to be made the most despicable of Slaves.

BY this, Sir, you see that the Question might be decided in a few words, only by alledging the Inclination of the People to Monarchy, as it is now established: For as no man can well be wrong'd with his consent, so neither is any man to be oblig'd against his will. And indeed how should a Government, founded upon inequality and force, ever subsist without it? Or a State that must necessarily be the meer Adjective of an Army, become a Substantive? With as much Reason might I also object matter of Title, because the same Estate, with a flaw in the conveyance, or clogg'd with Statutes and Judgments, is not surely of like value, as if it had been descended clearly from the great Grandfather, and were free from Claims and Incumbrances. But it shall be the next part of my Business to shew that the present establish'd Government (as it excellently [Page] complies with the Laws, Genius, and Interest of this Nation, so it) comprehends all the Benefits of a Common-wealth in great perfection; and this I shall do as briefly as I can.

TO demonstrate how it complies with our Laws and Constitutions, let it suffice, That (Monarchy, in these Nations, being more ancient than Story or Records more venerable than Tradition it self) our Laws were born (as it were) under this Climate, habituated to this Diet and Air, grafted into this Stock; and though we have (thanks be to God) forgotten our Norman, yet will it be very hard for us to learn Greek, much less Utopian; that in the late Usurper's time, our Lawyers, with one Voice, importun'd him rather to assume the Style and Power of a King, to which they found all our Laws were shaped, than retain that of a Protector, unknown to the Law: That nothing render'd the late Architects of a Common-wealth more obnoxious, than that (notwithstanding their infinite Discords, in other things) they generally agreed in the necessity of subverting all our Fandamental Laws, in order to their Design; which Consideration (we are in Charity to believe) obliged the sober men of all Parties, the true Patriotes, (nay and even the chiefest Pillars of the Parliaments-Cause too) to unite themselves with the Royal Interest; as not enduring to hear of those violent and dangerous Alterations which they plainly saw a Republick must necessarily introduce.

FOR its complyance with our Genius, examine we (in the first place) the various Revolutions that have happened to this Island; Brittains, Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans; or (more nearly) the changes in their Descents from the direct Line to the Collateral; or (yet nearer) the times of Insurrection and deposing Kings, Edward and Richard, (both the Seconds of the name) and we shall find [Page] King-ship still in fashion. Nay, that of King John is more notorious, for when the People had in a sort dethron'd him, and sworn Allegiance to Lewis of France, yet when John dy'd, the same People not only Expelled the Foreigner, but having got the Power into their own hands, they Crowned King John's Son, being then an Infant without Interest or Adherents: Nor will all our Chronicles afford us one single Instance of any Design or Endeavour to erect a Free Estate, (before the late unnatural times furnish'd the President) no not when Wat Tyler, or Jack Straw revell'd it with their Clowns. Nor yet is this Genius ever to be chang'd, for Reflect we (in the second place) that as our English Nature is not like the French, supple to Oppression, and apt to delight in that Pomp and Magnificence of their Lords, which (they know) is supported with their Slavery and Hunger; Nor like the Highland Scots, where the Honour and Interest of the Chief is the Glory of the whole Clan: So doth it as little (or less) agree with the Dutch humour, addicted only to Traffick, Navigation, Handicrafts, and sordid Thrift, and (in defiance of Heraldry) every man phansying his own Scutcheon. For does not every one amongst us, that has the name of a Gentleman, labour his utmost to uphold it? Every one that has not, to raise one? To this end, do not our very Yeomen commonly leave their Lands to the Eldest Son, and to the other nothing but a Flail, or a Plow? Did not every one (in the days of our late blessed Martyr) pinch himself in his Condition, to purchase a Knight-hood or small Patent? What need further proof? You cannot but remember, Sir, how that bare glimpse and shadow of Monarchy under Cromwel, and his Son Dick, (though persons even at that very time hated and scorn'd, and that too upon a most impious and scandalous account) was for meer resemblance-sake admitted astolerable and (in respect of a Common-wealth) courted; [Page] which clearly evinces, how grateful the substance must needs be to all true English Spirits.

AS to our Interest, briefly, (to wave tedious and Politick Discourses) there is no man, but with half an Eye may foresee that a Republick (were there any possibility of setling one) would destroy all our present Peace, and Felicity, ruinate our Trade and Traffick, involve us in a Field of Blood, alarm all our Neighbours, make our best Allies our bitterest Enemies; and probably draw upon us the united force of Christendom, to crush the Embryo; which would be the utter destruction and enslaving of this most free and prosperous Nation, (could it but once be capable of a due sense of its own Felicity) to the Tyrannical Damnation of a Foreigner. Beside, (at best) by what Title can we pretend to hold Scotland and Ireland, should that of Descent be avoided; for Consent there is none, nor can any be expected.

§. 5. BUT I come now directly to assert, That the Present Government eminently includes all the Perfections of a Free-Estate, and is the Kernel (as it were) of a Common-wealth in the Shell of Monarchy. And, first I shall begin with the Essential Parts of a Common-wealth, which are three, viz. the Senate proposing, the People resolving, the Magistrate executing. For the Senate (or Parliament) if ever there were a Free and Honourable one under the Cope of Heaven it is here; where the Deputies of the whole Nation most freely chosen, do with like freedom meet, propound, debate, and vote all matters of Common Interest: no Danger escapes their representing, no Grievance their complaint, no Publick Right their claim, or Good their demand: In all which, the least breach of Priviledge is branded with Sacriledge; and though there lyes no Appeal [Page] to the dispersed Body of the people, (a Decision manifestly impracticable in Government, and fitter indeed for Tribunes to move, then Nations to admit) yet (Elections being so popular and conventions frequent) the same end is attained with much more safety and convenience. The Prince may likewise (in some sense) be said to have only an Executive Power, which he exercises by Ministers and Officers, not only sworn, but severely accomptable; and though both He and the Lords have their Negatives in passing of Bills, and though it be the King only, that, by his Royal Fiat makes our Laws; yet (no Tax being imposable but by the consent of the Commons, nor any Law (without it) of such validity, that the Ministers of Justice dare enforce it) there is a wise and sweet necessity for the King, and likewise for the Lords to pass all such Bills as are convenient for the People, and not greatly hurtful to the Prince; and those that duly weigh the Reason of things, do find a Negative in the King to be a most safe Preservative of Peace to the People, who have as much comfort under the protection of his Prerogative, as they have Benefit by their own Priviledges: For in truth, this Bug-bear Negative (as our Republicans labour to represent it) is an impenetrable Target, to shelter and secure the Government from being alter'd at the Will of the Commons, if at any time they shou'd prove Factious. And this (being in reason manifest) has also been confirm'd by great Experience; our Kings having rarely obstructed any Bill which they might safely grant; but on the otherside, pass'd many High Acts of mere Grace, circumscribing their Prerogative, and clipping its Wings; nay better had it been for us, if they had not pierc'd its very Bowels.

[Page] THIS is that Triple-Cord that could never yet be broken, tho' it has been Cut asunder; This is our Gold seven times Refin'd; for every Bill being Thrice Read, Debated, and Agreed in Either House, is at last brought to the King for his Royal Assent; (which is the Mint of our Laws:) a Tryal so exact, that surely no Dross can escape it; since all Interests, must thereto concur: (as truly it is but fit they should, in the Establishment of That which must Bind all.) This is that Temperament, which purges our Humours, and (at once) indues us with Health, Vigour, and Beauty: no Vote is Precipitated; no Act Huddled up; as by sad Events, you saw they formerly us'd to be, when the Power was engross'd by One of the Estates, purg'd and moulded to the Interests of a Faction; a Consequence but Natural to such Premises! Nothing was (There) weigh'd, but (as in a Balance consisting of one Scale) our Laws were Mandrakes of a Nights Growth; and our Times as Fickle as the Weather of the Multitude.

THE King indeed has the Power of making War, but then he has not the Means; so that it signifies little more, then a Liberty to Fly if he can get Wings; or to go Beyond Sea, provided he can waft himself over without Shipping: He has a Sword, but Himself alone can never draw it; and the Train'd-Bands (in whom he has the sole Right) are a Weapon which he decently wears, 'tis true; but the Nation only may (in Effect) be said to have the Use and Benefit of it. He chuses his Ministers; (as who doth not his Servants?) but then they pass through such a Test, as none but the soundest Integrity can abide: He can hinder the stroke of Justice with his Pardon, (tho' still, the Jaws not being muzzled, it will Bite terribly) but then (on the [Page] Other side) the Power of Relieving his Wants rests in the Commons, to Balance his Will, and induce him to a Correspondence with Parliaments.

THAT his Person should be Sacred, is most Needful, to avoid Circulation of Accounts; Reasonable, since it carries with it the Consent of Nations; Just, that he become not the meer Butt of Faction, and Malice, and be in a worse Condition then the Basest of Vassals; Honourable, that the Nakedness of Government be not daily Uncover'd; Wise, in the Constitution, that so we may not (at once) both Trust, and Provoke, by forcing him to shift for his Own Indempnity; no danger to the Publique seeming so Extreme, as the Outlawry of a Prince; no Task (by daily Experience) so difficult, as the Arraigning of any Power, whether Regal or Popular; and if we make Golden Bridges for Flying Enemies, much more should we afford them to Relenting Sovereigns: (Upon which account, in our Neighbour Kingdom of France, even Princes of the Bloud are not subjected to Capital Punishments.) Finally, very Safe it is in the Consequence; for should a King be never so wicked and Tyrannical, yet being (by the Danger threatning his Corrupt Ministers) stript of Agents, his Personal Impunity might signifie something to Himself, perhaps, but nothing to the People.

A Revenue he has, for the support of his State and Family, Ample; for the Ordinary Protection of his People, Sufficient; but for any considerable Undertaking, Defective; and for Publique Oppression so Inconsiderable, that when Prerogative was most Rampant, our Greatest Princes (and some doubtless we have had, the most Renowned Warriours of their Age) would never, prudently, [Page] aspire to make themselves Absolute. The Royal Revenue is proportioned to the Maintenance of Courts, not Camps, and Fleets: In fine, it is very Competent for Ordinary Disbursements, and as for Extraordinary he resorts to Parliaments; the Wiser He, and the Happier We! Now there is nothing more Demonstrative, then that upon Examination, we may find the present Government to be (compared with all the other Models of the Late Times) a mighty Ease to the Publique Charge; we allow'd the Tyrant Cromwell no less then a constant Revenue of 1900000 l. to support him in his Usurpation; and yet That Sum (beside all his other intolerable Squeezings) at the years end, clear'd not the Account by far. Under the Rump a great deal more was yearly Collected out of the Bowels of the People, to maintain the Army; and yet we could never be at quiet neither, but were perpetually embroyl'd in Wars either Abroad or at Home, by our active Spirits, some to feed their Ambition, others their Purses: And such a Spirit we read of, working in all Free-States, Ancient and Modern. What shall we say now of the Expences of the Late King, (if examin'd by This Standard) whose Revenue in Lands, Perquisites, and Customs, exceeded not 700000 l. a year; and yet by the good management of that most Thristy and Temperate Prince, that petite Annuity furnish'd a glorious Court, a Noble Equipage for the Honour of the Nation, and paid off a considerable Fleet; which never was much improved afterwards by all our vast Payments, when we were so unfortunate as to fall into Other hands. Nay and our present Charge is rather a Sport, then a Burthen, compared with Their Monthly Tax.

TRUE it is, that while we live with Men, we shall be [Page] subject to That which is the Effect of their Nature, Sin; nor is it possible to reap the more General Fruit of the best Establish'd Policy, unless we submit to some possible Inconveniences. But yet I defie your Friend, and all other Projectors of Commonwealths, to contrive greater Freedom for their Citizens, then is provided by Magna Charta, and The Petition of Right; or shew that it is not much easier to Violate, then to Mend them; for Thereby, our Lives, Liberties, and Estates are, under Monarchy, secur'd and establish'd (I think) as well as any thing, on this side Heaven, can be. It is no Soloecism to say, that the Subject has his Prerogative, as well as the King; and sure I am, he is in as good condition to maintain it; the Dependance being less on his side. Beside that no Prince ever attempted any Violation thereof, but that, at Long Run, he suffer'd in that point of his Prerogative that let in the Opportunity. Hence it is that the Rights of the People have grown stronger and stronger against the Prince, and sometimes have hurried his Person to be a Sacrifice; always, his Instruments; whereof few, in our History, can we read, that, contriving against the Law, have died in peace. If, possibly, One Prince, (as King Harry) by his High Spirit, swept all before him, yet his Infant Successor is forc'd to make amends for his Fathers Violations: So that Liberty (we see) is no less Sacred, then Majesty; Noli me tangere being its Motto likewise: And in case of any, the least Infringement, (as Escapes in Government may happen, even in the most perfect) it is resented as if the Nation had received a Box on the Ear. If it be (as they say) the Glory of a Tree-State, to Exalt; the Scandal of Tyranny, to Embase our Spirits; doubtless the Establish'd Form is our Only Commonwealth; for all that we got by the Change of it, was but the learning quietly [Page] to take the Bastinade. Nay, and at the very worst that can be imagin'd, it is much more Easie (were it Lawful) for us to dispute our Rights with a single P [...]ince, and his Trembling Agents; then (as it was our Case formerly) with a Knot of Sovereigns that are backt with the Sword.

WE are now again able to distinguish (which we could never do under their Free-Estate, for all the fair Promises they made us) the Legislative and the Ministerial Authority: For tho' both of them are Inherent in the King, yet are not both of them his own Peculiar and Personal Act. We know that the House of Commons has not the Power of a Court-Leet, to give an Oath, nor of a Justice of the Peace, to make a Mittimus: And this Distinction, doubtless, is the most Vital part of Freedom, and far more considerable to poor Subjects, then all these mens pretended Rotations; as, on the contrary, the absolute Jumbling and Confounding of them, is an Accomplishment of Servitude, for which all Republiques, I fear, (and our late one more especially) have more to Answer, then any Limited Sovereign can have. And certain it is, that as our Prince, in his Personal Capacity, makes no Laws; so neither does he, by himself, Execute or Interpret any: No Judge takes notice of his single Command, to justifie any Trespass; no not so much as the breaking of a Hedg; his Power is Circumscribed by his Justice; he is (equally with the meanest of his Subjects) concern'd in that Honest Maxim; We may do just so much, and no more, then we have Right to do. And it is tolerably enough said, He can do no wrong, because, if it be wrong, he does it not; it is void in the Act, and punishable in his Agent. His Officers, as they are alike lyable, so perhaps they are more Obnoxious [Page] to Indictments and Suits, then any other; by how much their Trespass seems to be of a Higher Nature, and gives greater Alarm: His Private Will cannot Countermand his Publique; His Privy Seal still Buckles to his Great Seal, as being (in a sense) the Nations, as much as His; His Order Supercedes no Process; and His Displeasure threatens no man with an hours Imprisonment, after the Return of HabeasCorpus: An Under-Sheriff is more Terrible, a Constable more Sawcy, a Bailiff more Troublesom, then He: And yet by his Gentle Authority, by this Scabbard of Prerogative (as some in derision have lewdly Term'd it) which (if it Would) Could Scarce Oppress an Orphan; Tumults are Curb'd Faction Moderated, Usurpation Forestall'd, Intervals prevented, Perpetuities Obviated, Equity Administer'd, Clemency Exalted, and the People made Happy to a degree even of Satiety and Wantonness.

TO Conclude this Point: What shall I add more? The Act enjoyning the Keepers of the Great Seal, under Pain of High Treason, to Summon a Triennial Parliament, of Course, by Virtue of the Act, without Further Warrant; The Act forbidding the Privy-Councell to intermeddle with Meum & Tuum; the Law abolishing the Star-Chamber, High-Commission, &c. Branding all Past, and Bridling all Future Enormities: The Statutes limiting the Kings Claims, and relieving his Tenants from Exaction of Forfeitures; Beside many other principal Immunities, wherewith (by the Especial Favour of God, and the Bounty of our Princes) we are Blessed, far beyond any of our Neighbours: Above all, our Assurance (by the Goodness and Clemency of our present Dread Sovereign) readily to obtain such further Addition and Perfection of Liberty and Security, [Page] (if any such there can be) as may consist with Modesty and Liberty it self, to ask: Does not all this Proclaim aloud, that we are the Mirrour of Governments, Envy of Monarchies, and Shame of Commonwealths; who cannot but blush to see themselves so Eclipsed and Silenc'd, in all their Pretences to Freedom? And does it not more than justifie my Assertion, that with all the Ornaments of the Noblest Kingdom, we have likewise all the Enjoyments of a Free-Estate?

§. 6. AFTER all these solid Blessings and Advantages, which we Reap from the most Excellent of Governments, and of Princes; the bare Fruition of the Tithe whereof, would be sufficient to transport the Best to pass of our Neighbour Nations into all the Cordial and Passionate Expressions of Joy and Gratitude imaginable: After all these Comforts (I say) a Body would think, there should scarce be found one single Murmuring and Disaffected Person in the whole Kingdom. And yet so hard is our Fate; our Hearts infensible; and so Ingenious are we in starting Fears and Jealousies; that a great part of us deprive our selves of the Enjoyment of all our present Felicities, through a too Eager and Pensive Solicitation for Futurities. Nay so miserably Hood-wink'd is our Reason, that our Carefulness to avoid miscarryin [...] upon a Scilla, hurries us Violently into the other Extreme of splitting upon a Charybdis. Popery and Tyranny (we cry) are breaking in upon us like a Deluge; the Presumptive Heir is of the Red-Letter Stamp: and therefore another Sect of our Pseudo-protestants, apprehending the Danger and the Impracticableness of a Commonwealth-Government here amongst us, do hope to mend the matter mightily, by propounding the setting up of a Single Person either of a [Page] Crack'd Title, or of a New Line; upon the death of his present Majesty without Legitimate Issue: Whom God preserve.

THERE is no man shall be more willing than my self to grant that the Popish Religion (if it may deserve the Name) is little better than a Compound of meer Secular Interest, Tyranny, Hypoc [...]sie, Homicide, and Delusion; and that the very principles of the Jesuits do inspirit and egg them on to the inflicting of all manner of Outragious Violences upon the Persons of those that enjoy a greater Light and Purity of the Gospel then themselves. But yet I must averr (on the other hand) that, since through the peculiar Mercy and Providence of God, and the Indefatigable Industry and Vigilance of Authority; all their Machinations have hitherto been defeated, and their Conspiracies both against our Church and State rendred Abortive; it will become us both as Men and Christians, to temper our Passions, and to rest satisfied with the singular Care and Concern, that the Government vouchsafes continually to express both for our present and future safety and preservation, in all Respects. Full well know, that nothing is of greater Concernment then the Security of that Religion, which by the Bloud of so many blessed and Glorious Martyrs has (by Gods immediate blessing) been so firmly Establish'd amongst us. But then we are to take special heed that we lend not too easie an Ear to such as cry up Religion, & design Faction; that cry out Zeal for the Lord of Hosts, when they intend Self-Interest; to keep up a party; an Affected way; or to be the Ipse dixit of a County: Religion has not at all prosper'd by undue practices to advance it. 'Tis Meekness, Patience, Humility, and those Graces of the Spirit, that Convince and Convert; when [Page] Rigidness, Censuring, and the Sword Exasperate and Harden. Has not Gods power, or truth, Evidence to secure it self? Let but the Gospel have Free passage, and it will make its own stay: For all true Protestants do unanimously disown the Promotion of it by the Sword, as totally Unchristian; and bequeath it to the Pope and the Turk. Was not, now, the maintenance of our Fundamental Laws the pretence of our late Quarrel? Found we not the Spirit of the Nation rouz'd up, upon the sound of the Trumpet? Popery, was it not decry'd, and Religion, Protestant Religion, judg'd to be in danger? Were we not call'd out to the Battle upon the account of Zeal, with Curse ye Meroz? And yet under our Free Estate, (as they call'd it) our Religion (so much of it especially as could any way be term'd Protestant) turn'd into Wantonness; and our Divisions became so great, that we durst not exasperate, by advancing that Idol of the Presbyters, Discipline; nor indeed could we, if we durst; for the most active of our Statists, (if they had any Religion at all) 'twas that of the Sectary, which they own'd as the main Supporter of their Model, whose Interest it was to give Licentiousness to all. As for Laws, those which we ador'd for Excellency and Antiquity, they were (by them) of necessity alter'd, in our Freedoms of Person and Estate, wherein true Liberty is principally concern'd: For when the House of Commons (or rather the Rump of it) engross'd the Soveraign Power, they both Imposed Taxes, and Levy'd them, by vertue of a trifling Ordinance, which could never be done before, but by an Act of Parliament, solemnly and regularly pass'd by the King and the Three Estates: And having of Tribunes of the people, (as it were) and their Bulwark against High Payments and Impressures, demanded by the King, advanc'd themselves into the degree of Princes; they took [Page] upon them to assess and impress us at pleasure; and we might complain as long as we would of the Reiterated Burthen; but there was no remedy but Patience, because no Appeal left us, themselves being both Parties and Judges.

I COULD heartily wish there were at present no more reason, to be apprehensive of Popery coming amongst us, then there was in those days: But yet, let his Royal Highness's Perswasion be what it will, this I'm sure of, that Dr. Oates has deposed upon Oath, that the Jesuits were so far from saying or acting, Indifferently, as to his Person, that in their Hellish Plot, they had mark'd him out also for Slaughter, with his most Royal, most Protestant Brother. Now the late Marquess of Argyle was wont to lay it down as a Principle in Policy, That it was the Character of a wise man not to let the World know what Religion he was of: But (for my own part) I cannot in Charity but hope the best of a Person, (till I shall be convinc'd of the contrary, by more certain and positive Arguments, then any that I have yet been able to meet with) that has been so Lectur'd and Tutor'd by our late Glorious Martyr, (as well as by Experience) into a Veneration for, and a Perseverance in that Pure, Reformed Religion, the Principles of which he suck'd in with his very Milk, and in Defence of which his ever Blessed Father laid down his most precious Life, upon a Scaffold. You may read his words thus; ‘I do require you, (addressing to his present Majesty) as your Father and your King, that you never suffer your Heart to receive the least Check against, or Dis-affection from the True Religion establish'd in the Church of England: I tell you I have try'd it, and after much Search, and many Disputes, have concluded it to be the best in the World, not only in [Page] the Community, as Christian, but also in the special Notion, as Reformed; keeping the middle way between the Pomp of Superstitious Tyranny, and the Meanness of Phantastick Anarchy, &c.’ To this sence, spake he, when he had no more to speak. Nay, and so zealous, this way, was our English Solomon, (the Duke's Grandfather) King James, that rather then any of his Progeny should ever come to be tainted with the Errors and Idolatries of the Church of Rome, he made it his Prayer to Almighty God, that they might be taken out of the World first.

AS to the apprehensions of Tyranny, I hope, by what I have already deliver'd in the Body of this Discourse, it is evident, that there is less ground to fear it, then many people might before imagine, for that it is next to an Impossibility to introduce it. And, upon probable grounds, I perswade my self, that should the Duke ever have the occasion offer'd, yet would he be wiser then to make tryal of the Experiment, knowing so well as he must needs do, that should the English Liberties be violated in the example but of any one single Person, the whole Nation would take it self to be concern'd upon that account, apprehend it self ready for the Fetters, and, thereby, what with Fear, what with Hate, such a Storm would be rais'd, as might shake the surest Foundations of the Government; and so very much has Majesty already felt by the Fury of the People, that it will be chary (doubtless) of giving occasion to encounter it again.

BUT 'tis farther Objected (it seems) that there is a Vindictive and Implacable Spirit in the Case. Now this is most manifest (indeed) that there have been Provocations to the height; but shall we therefore continue to provoke, [Page] because we have begun? 'Tis a Rule (you know) that he that does wrong, never forgives, but he that has wrong, may. The Interest of Revenge is passionate, but the Interest of Profit arises from a Passion that prevails more; and he is very weak, that anteposes Rumour and vain Passion, when it stands in Competition with his Safety. To speak home, Interest rules the whole World; and Princes (as others) design more the security of their own Greatness, then a petty Revenge that may hazard it: But for this search we the Experiences of past Ages. Henry the Great of France, was so far from punishing any of the holy League, that labour'd, by all means possible, to keep him from his Right, and to murther him, that (on the contrary) he imploy'd those very Persons that were his main Opposites, in his Armies, in his Offices, and in his Councels. And what shall we say of King James, who sent Messages, made Vows, menac'd Revenge, and all to prevent that fatal Stroke from falling upon his Mother, (the Queen of Scots) under Queen Eliz. but to no effect. Observe the Issue now; Shortly Q. Eliz. dies, and those very Lords that acted personally in the Mothers Death, were the most forward to court the Son to the Crown, and he became establish'd with all Prerogatives incident to the English Scepter. What? Acts he in the way of Revenge? No; he, like a wise Prince, feeling the Warmth of so Rich a Climate, is so passionate to confirm his own Greatness, that he not only forgets the Injury of his Mother, but manages his great Affairs by the hands of those very Persons that were Contrivers of it; yet through Her Bloud did he derive his Title! Nor do we read of one of these Nobles, or their Issue, that suffer'd Diminution, by any Resentment, upon that account. His wise Father also, that had been beaten into the knowledge of the English Spirit, writes thus: ‘Let no Passion, (my [Page] Son) betray you to any study of Revenge upon Those whose Own Sin and Folly will sufficiently Punish theu, in due Time: Be confident that most of all Sides that have done Amiss, have done so, not out of Malice, but Mis-information, or Mis-apprehension of Things. None will be more Loyal to Me or You, then those Subjects, who, sensible of Their Errors, and Our Injuries, will feel, in their own Souls, most Vehement Motions to Repentance, and earnest Defires to make some Reparations for their former Desects, &c.’ The like said he at his Last Hour. But what do we Doubt or Distrust? May we not have a Protestant Parliament upon all Exigencies; and the disposal of Commands and Offices secure to us, for a Time, in case of His Majesties decease? Have we not a Protestant Councel, a Protestant Militia, a Protestant Clergy, and a Protestant People; what can we (in reason) desire more?

§. 7. AS to the Project of erecting a Cracht Title, or a Single Person of another Line; (over and above the Heinousness and Impiety of the Proposition, and to wave tedious Canvassings) That must unquestionably be the most Desperate of all other Remedies, and infinitely worse then the Disease it self: For Thereby we should set on Foot a personal Quarrel; and (at the Long Run) beyond measure Disgust the Spirits of this Generous People, in that they will then be Subjected to their Equal; who, to retain his Usurpation, will be forc'd to repeat and accumulate those Violences, whereof we had most woful Experience under the Old Protector: Otherwise, he will soon be made the Object of our Contempt; as was his Son, with his Easie and Gentle way of Acting; and his Name be used only as a Cloak to cover the Avarice, and Exorbitances of a Ravenous Faction. Nor [Page] can This Project prevent a Relapse into our former Calamities; because our Fears will ever be Great and Continual, and, consequently, our Charge proportionable. In a word, all the Evils and Miseries that were brought upon us by the Army, the Rump, and by all other Architects of our Slavery in the Late Times, will certainly be found Tolerable; compared with the Probable, and Genuine Effects of such a Desperate and Unchristian Proceeding.

§. 8. YOU will not expect from me, (I'm sure, Sir) that I should so acquit my self of every Objection, as to leave all men satisfy'd; especially such as carry a Byass of Preferment, Profit, or Faction; Men that have in Design Exorbitances of Power, or Wealth, will hardly, with Arguments, be reclaimed: And some there are (I know) that have so long possess'd their Heads with strong Notions, that they are not capable to take in Reason, against them; and thereupon, run on Frantique in Error, till there be a Rotation in their Brains: Such there are, that, with Confidence, so often have told a Lye, that, at length, themselves believe it to be a Truth: But we shall be too wise (I'm sure, should ever that day come) to preferr the Interest or Wilfulness of a Few, to the Safety and Welfare of the Whole. I shall not deny, yet, that it is easier to demonstrate what may be Evil, then positively to assert what will be Good: but however, comparing Times with Things, (as is above represented) I doubt not to Evidence, that to keep where we are, and to be contented with our Lot, is a Course much rather to be embrac'd, as that which, in great Probability, may be Good; then, by pushing at Incertainties, to pull down most lamentable Confusions and Desolations upon our own Heads, which certainly will be Evil [Page] I therefore ever was, and still am of opinion, that it is both our Interest and our Duty to embrace, with Open Arms, the ample, generous Offers of his most Gracious Majesty, in order to Provisions for our future Security, in point of Freedom and Religion: As for the Rest, let us but have our Good Old Laws duly put in Execution; and then (by Gods assistance) we shall be in a Capacity to Defie the Pope, the Devil, and all their Works, come what will come.

§ 9. Thus, Sir, have I run through the several Heads that you were pleased to propound. I have, in the First place, given you my Reasons why I conceive the Project of Fixing a Free-Estate, (as your Friend thinks fit to term it) here amongst us, would be utterly Impracticable; I have, in the next place, presented you with a Summary of those Mischiefs and Distractions, which were the Consequents of a Like Attempt, from 1640. to 1660. In the Third place, you find the Natural Bent and Inclination of the People to Monarchy, exclusively of any other Form of Regiment whatsoever, fully demonstrated; the Royal Prerogative Anatomiz'd; and an Account of those great Immunities, Blessings, and Priviledges which the English do at this day enjoy under the present Government Establish'd, both Ecclesiastical and Civil, peculiarly, and above any other People or Nation in the known World. The Fourth, rips up the Ground of our Fears and Jealousies of Popery and Arbitrary Power flowing in upon us, should the Duke of York ever come to Sway the English Scepter; and furnishes Arguments for the moderating and lessening our Apprehensions as to the One, and for the proving the almost Impossibility of Effecting the Other, were there never so great a Will and Disposition that way. [Page] In the Fifth place, you have represented the Danger and Impiety, of Erecting a Crackt Title, or a Single Person of a New Line; together with the probable Calamitous Effects that would inevitably ensue upon such an Attempt. And Lastly, I have presum'd to offer my own Expedient, in reference to the Security of our Religion and Freedoms, for the Present and for the Future. Upon the Whole Matter, if, by what I have written, I be so fortunate as to make your Friend a Convert, 'twill be an Infinite Satisfaction to me; because, thereby I may hope to save a Soul; but, at the worst, I may say with the Text, that I shall hide a multitude of Sins. Now should I frame twenty Excuses to you for the Length, the Inequality, the Insufficiency, the Incoherence, the Freedom, the Extravagant Rovings and Impertinencies, the Unskilful Management, nay and for the Boldness and Presumption of this Discourse: But I have neither Will nor Leisure to Trifle at such a rate. I am conscious to my self (no man more) of my great want of Abilities requisite for an Undertaking of such Weight and Importance; only I was resolv'd to let you see, that no Considerations whatsoever were of force (with me) to withstand the Authority of your Commands. I have unbosom'd my self to you, Sir, (under the protection of a Private Letter) with all the Frankness and Simplicity imaginable; not doubting but you will make such use of it, as may not redound to the Disadvantage of,

Sir,

Your most Obedient Servant.

Feb. 21. 1679/80.

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THE State and Interest OF THE NATION, With respect to His Royal Highness THE Duke of York, Discours'd at large; in a LETTER to a Member of the Honourable House of Commons.

LONDON, Printed in the Year, 1680.

Information about this book

Title statement

The state and interest of the nation, with respect to His Royal Highness the Duke of York discours'd at large, in a letter to a member of the Honourable House of Commons.

L'Estrange, Roger, Sir, 1616-1704.

Edition statement

1680

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Text Creation Partnership,

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Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2005-10 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A47921

ID [STC]

Wing L1309

ID [STC]

ESTC R7627

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

13102053

ID [OCLC]

ocm 13102053

ID [VID]

97418

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(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A47921)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 97418)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 744:15)

Source

— The state and interest of the nation, with respect to His Royal Highness the Duke of York discours'd at large, in a letter to a member of the Honourable House of Commons., L'Estrange, Roger, Sir, 1616-1704..

Extent

[2], 32 p.

[s.n.],. London :: 1680.. (Attributed to Roger L'Estrange. Cf. NUC pre-1956.) (Reproduction of original in Huntington Library.)

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